For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic Party, I will resign. It’s my hope, and I pray with all my heart, that I didn't hurt the people that I love so much. All I ever wanted to do … was to run for office and to help the people, not to cause chaos. That was never my intention.

He is now the senator-designate from Illinois and, as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a senator-elect.

Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week. We are working with him and the office of the Vice President to determine the date and time of the swearing-in.

The Obama-Biden Transition Team also released a statement:

As the President-elect has said repeatedly, he knows Roland Burris and has high regard for him. He looks forward to working with Senator Burris and the rest of the United States Senate to rebuild our economy and meet the great challenges of our time.

It is legal for Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to appoint Edward “Ted” Kaufman to fill the unexpired term of Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Kaufman, a former aide to Biden, is reportedly keeping the seat warm for Beau Biden, who’s expected to run for election in 2010.

As for Burris being used, please. In short order, the “very happy” self-proclaimed “magic man” will be seated as the “junior senator from the State of Illinois.” And when he is, Burris can channel songwriter-philosopher Bill Withers:

It ain’t too bad the way you’re using meCause I sure am using youTo do the things you doAh-ha, to do the things you do.

Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes. Is the governor discredited? The answer is yes. Does that affect his appointment power? The answer is no, until certain things happen.

I think he’s duly qualified. I think the process -- you know, when we talk about him being tainted, the legislature in Illinois will still be passing laws, and the governor will be signing them. I don’t understand how this process can be tainted when the legislative process going forward in Illinois will not be tainted with this governor’s signature. Let us go ahead and get the business of the nation under way.

After meeting with Burris in the Capitol, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Durbin signaled an openness to seating Burris, despite earlier remarks that Burris was tainted by corruption charges against Blagojevich that include allegations he tried to sell the Senate appointment.

We have a situation here,” said Reid, noting that newly elected senators have traditionally needed the signatures of the governor and secretary of state. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to sign the appointment papers given Blagojevich’s legal troubles.

Reid said leaders would await a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court on Burris’s lawsuit to force White to sign his certification.

Already, I’ve received campaign news from one of the candidates for Illinois’ 5th congressional district, Tom Geoghegan. A “Chicago lawyer for thirty years,” Geoghegan is a Harvard Law grad so presumably he passed Con Law.

Truth be told, seating Burris is not about racial solidarity. It’s about the rule of law.

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law, argues:

Like it or not, Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich has the legal authority to appoint Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, and Burris, the state’s former attorney general, should be allowed to take the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Senate Democrats are on weak constitutional ground in trying to deny a seat to a properly selected individual. Their claim to the power to exclude a lawfully chosen senator could create a dangerous precedent.

Chemerinsky’s bottom line:

The problem here is that Burris unquestionably was lawfully selected. According to the 17th Amendment, “When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.” Illinois law gives this power to the state governor, and that is Blagojevich until he is impeached and found guilty.

Allowing the Senate to exclude Burris on any except the narrowest of grounds would create a dangerous precedent. It could open the door to the Senate or the House overturning the will of the people and excluding representatives under one or another pretext. If Burris -- whose appointment meets the legal test, no matter what you think of Blagojevich -- is not seated, other properly elected (or appointed) representatives also are at risk.

Of course, Roland Burris has not been certified by the state of Illinois. When that takes place, we of course will review it. At this stage, we’re waiting to we see what will happen in Illinois. We’ll wait until we see there’s certification from the state of Illinois.

While they have no official sway in the Senate, the CBC imprimatur carries clout. U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush was working the phones this weekend to line up their support. He hopes to make the case Wednesday at the caucus’ first meeting of 2009. He will argue that the Burris appointment was constitutional and legal and that Burris brings “impeccable” credentials.

Hey, “pay to play” (and here) appears to be in vogue. So here’s an idea: Perhaps I’ll put on my sneakers and mosey on over to Schumer’s apartment building. I can slip the doorman a few bucks to slide a copy of the Constitution under Schumer’s door.

The governor’s appointment is legal, and I am the junior senator for the state of Illinois.

Burris continued:

What they didn’t take into consideration, Ray, is the fact that the governor is the governor. He has a constitutional and legal authority to appoint a replacement for the United States Senate when there is a vacancy.

Let it go. Blagojevich may be a crook. The Illinois legislature should probably impeach him. But he remains governor, and the governor has the power to appoint a senator. No one believes Burris tried to buy his seat. No one should doubt that he is otherwise qualified. Would a citizen of Illinois have the right to refuse to obey a law signed by Blagojevich? Why does the US Senate?

I asked Adam Clayton Powell III to share his thoughts on the Senate drama. Adam was present for the oral argument in the landmark case. In an email, Adam wrote:

They don’t know their constitutional law, do they?

It will be interesting to see whether the Senate adopts the same legal reasoning that the lawyer for the House of Representatives used in the Supreme Court argument: that exclusion of an elected member of Congress because of race, while clearly unconstitutional, would not be a sufficient “perversion” to warrant judicial relief…This echo of Reconstruction caused a quite audible reaction in the court, and incredulity from the bench.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Reid didn’t want Blagojevich to appoint an African American to fill the vacant seat:

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

SEN. REID: The state of Illinois deserves a vote in the United States Senate, and the people of the state of Illinois, the fifth most populous state in the union, deserve that vote. It’s too bad Blagojevich has diverted attention from the real issue. And we’ll--we’re--as I’ve indicated, we’re going to come--I’m going to meet with Senator McConnell, my Republican counterpart. I hope to do that Monday evening. I think it’s around 6:00 or something like that. We’ll talk about this. I hope we can solve this issue on a bipartisan basis.

MR. GREGORY: But there sounds to me like there may be some room here to negotiate and actually seat Burris?